Understanding CCP GOVERNANCE
Are you seeking information on how roles and responsibilities are shared as part of a CCP process? Are you looking to create a planning team or committee? Do you want to better understand how your leadership can support the community planning journey? This section offers pathways to explore CCP governance.
WHAT IS GOVERNANCE?
Governance can be defined as all the methods determined by a group or community to collectively make decisions and carry out actions.
In terms of community planning, governance includes 10 core functions :
- Citizenship – recognizing who belongs to the First Nation
- Leadership – selecting leaders, clarifying their roles and responsibilities
- Community engagement – policies, tools and mechanisms for citizen participation in decisions
- Planning and risk management – creating a vision, objectives and priorities, as well as monitoring and reporting
- Basic administration – providing public services to citizens
- Development of policies and laws – creating the rules that govern the life of the First Nation
- Financial management – financial policies, tools, and monitoring mechanisms
- Human resources management – policies, tools and mechanisms to hire and retain qualified staff
- Information management and technology – equipment, practices and procedures to ensure information access and security
- External relations – relationships and negotiations with external entities (governments, businesses, organizations, etc.)
WHAT IS CCP GOVERNANCE?
During the CCP process, governance is approached in two ways :
- Process governance - mandates, structures, and strategies determined by the community to create and implement their plan.
- Planning theme - addressing governance as one of the themes in the community plan; identifying objectives and actions that will embody the community's vision for governance.
In this section, the governance of the process is addressed through the following questions :
- Citizenship – which citizens or members have the right to participate in the CCP process?
- Leadership – what role do elected officials have in creating and implementing the CCP?
- Human resources management – who is on the planning team?
- Community engagement – who is on the CCP committee?
- External relations – what place is given to external partners?
Other aspects of CCP governance are covered elsewhere on the site :
WHO PARTICIPATES
IN THE CCP PROCESS?
Deciding who can participate in your planning activities is one of the most important steps in the entire process.
NO ONE CAN DECIDE FOR YOU, THIS IS A MATTER
OF SELF-DETERMINATION
The community plan is the document that will guide how your First Nation develops over the next 20 years or more. Deciding who is involved in creating the collective vision and identifying priorities will shape your community’s present and future.
Most First Nations use their membership or citizenship code to decide who can participate in CCP discussions. This allows all citizens or members to participate, regardless of where they live, their age, gender, language, and so on. For example, students who are studying in a city can contribute, as can children or people who did not grow up in the community but would like to live there some day.
Examples
The Essipit Innus First Nation wanted its community planning approach to be participatory and inclusive. They chose to invite both resident and non-resident statutory members, as well as resident relatives of members, to participate in planning activities.
Wolf Lake First Nation chose to invite all of its members to participate in the CCP, regardless of their place of residence. Their CCP approach aims to help provide members with a home and rebuild the community. Everyone’s participation is essential to ensure that everyone feels at home.
What roles are associated
WITH CCP?
In CCP, we start from the idea that each person is unique and essential to their community’s future.
Each person has a role to play, from pre-planning all the way to implementation, monitoring, and updating the plan. Clarifying roles allows each person to understand why they are essential to the process and makes it easier to find balance when working together.
Director
Shares their expertise; facilitates access to information; supports their team’s participation in planning activities; contributes to identifying, prioritizing, and implementing actions.
Coordinator
Organizes the community planning process; coordinates all planning activities; and drafts the plan.
Citizen
Participates in planning activities to share knowledge and ideas; contributes to implementing and monitoring actions.
Employee
Shares expertise; supports and participates in planning activities; contributes to implementing and monitoring actions.
Elected official
Provides clear political support for the CCP; participates in planning activities; facilitates access to resources (financial, human, and material); and is accountable to citizens.
Member of the planning committee
Listens to everyone’s ideas; acts as a bridge to citizens; advises the planning team; and provides support during planning activities.
Director
Coordinator
Citizen
Employee
Elected official
Member of the
planning
committee
Director
Shares their expertise, facilitates access to documentation and the participation of their team in activities, and contributes to the identification, prioritization and implementation of actions.
Coordinator
Organizes the community approach, coordinates all planning activities and writes the plan.
Citizen
Participates in planning activities to share knowledge and ideas, and contributes to the implementation and monitoring of actions.
Member of the planning committee
Listens to everyone’s ideas, acts as a bridge with citizens, advises the planning team and offers support during activities.
Elected official
Provides clear political support for the CCP, participates in planning activities, facilitates access to resources (financial, human and material), and is accountable to citizens.
Employee
Shares expertise, supports and participates in planning activities, and contributes to carrying out and monitoring actions.
Roles do not have to be the same from one First Nation to another. What truly matters if for roles to be clear, to reflect the values and culture of your Nation, so that, together, they support the participation of all citizens in the planning process.
The following tools will support your exploration :
What role do ELECTED OFFICIALS HAVE?
Through their support, elected officials have the power to facilitate the planning process. They can make important decisions that enable access to the funds needed to hire a coordinator, organize activities, commit resources, purchase equipment, and so on.
Elected officials can also facilitate the administration’s participation in planning activities. For example, they can support modifying employee job descriptions, to include their participation in the planning process.
Support from elected officials makes the planning process more credible in the eyes of citizens. When elected officials commit to respecting the collective vision and aligning their priorities with those of their entire community, this helps build citizens’ trust that the plan will lead to meaningful actions.
Elected officials can show their support in several ways, including :
- Adopting resolutions
- Approving project and/or operating budgets
- Communicating to the public (open letters, messages in a local newsletter, radio interviews, videos, etc.)
- Making presentations at public meetings
- Meeting with management, and/or the management committee
It’s important to support CCP and our CCP Coordinator. Having myself been CCP Coordinator, I truly understand her role and the process. With the Council, we take part in planning activities to show our support, so that people can see that we're involved and that it's important. We talk about CCP as often as possible, and our Council planning is based on the orientations given by our people. In Pikogan, the idea of doing a CCP was planted a long time ago, with my uncle Major, who was a visionary. I walk in his footsteps, I always see a little further ahead. It helps me persevere and have the desire to create a beautiful living environment for the community. As elected leader, I want to be able to dream with our community, from children to Elders, and turn our dreams into action, even if we can't achieve everything right away.
WHO IS PART OF
THE PLANNING TEAM?
A common first step in creating a planning team is to hire or designate a person to coordinate the process on a full-time basis.
This new coordinator will be the key CCP person for the community. Thanks to their overall vision, the coordinator brings people together, keeps the community informed, facilitates exchanges, coordinates activities, and drafts the plan.
To facilitate the day-to-day work, the coordinator must be able to rely on an internal team, made up of staff from the administration and/or local organizations who have expertise, availability, and access to the necessary resources. These are often the following people :
- Communications manager or officer
- Department heads (based on their interests)
- Staff from the department to which the coordinator is attached
- Staff responsible for community engagement activities
- People with experience in data collection, analysis and management
- People recognized for their cultural or linguistic expertise
The planning team is responsible for organizing and planning all CCP activities, with the support of elected officials, administration, and citizens. When needed, the planning team can hire external support and/or collaborate with other work teams.
Example
Abitibi8inni First Nation’s CCP Coordinator is attached to the community’s Culture, Sports and Recreation department. When organizing CCP activities, she can rely on the support of her whole department, as well as the communications manager, the Council’s elected official responsible for the CCP portfolio, and the management committee. She also regularly collaborates with colleagues from other departments during community activities.
WHO IS ON THE CCP COMMITTEE?
To ensure that planning is truly community-led, the CCP coordinator is supported by a planning committee. This committee is the guardian of the process and helps create connections with citizens.
The committee’s composition, mandate, creation process and operating mode are unique to each First Nation. We invite you to consider these ideas when creating your own committee.
The committee is made up of citizens and reflects your First Nation’s diversity. Generally, the committee includes 6 to 15 members. This ensures that there are enough people to be representative while remaining effective and easy to bring together.
- Which groups—age, gender, family, function, status, place of residence, and so on—should be represented?
- What size should a CCP committee be in your community, considering your context (e.g., availability of people and premises, population, calendar of activities, etc.)?
Example
Kebaowek First Nation chose to create its CCP committee early on in its process. The CCP Coordinator used different means to inform citizens and invite them to participate such as community meetings, publications in the local newsletter, postings on social media, and door-to-door dissemination of information. During the second community meeting, people were encouraged to volunteer to participate in the committee. Individual invitations were also issued to ensure that the committee was representative. Some committee members changed along the way, but the committee has always included at least one young person, one elder, one elected councillor and three administration employees.
Clarifying the CCP committee’s mandate is one of the planning team’s responsibilities. Once the committee is created, members can improve the mandate, adopt it, and then share it with the entire population.
- What values guide the committee?
- What do your culture and language teach you about working in groups?
- What are the committee’s roles?
- What compensation do members receive for their participation (e.g., fees, meal costs, etc.)?
Here are two examples of mandates to inspire you :
To be able to decide on their involvement in the committee, citizens need to have enough information about the planning and the committee’s mandate.
The committee creation process must be transparent and accessible.
- What information needs to be provided to the citizens before creating the committee?
- When are the ideal times to create the committee?
- What creation process is appropriate in your context (e.g., call to all, nominations, individual invitations, etc.)?
- If many people are interested in being members, will there be a selection process and, if so, what will it consist of (e.g., selection by Council, random draw, popular or family vote, etc.)?
- Does the creation process and final composition of the committee have to be approved by a group or authority in your First Nation?
Example
The Essipit Innus First Nation created a working document that explains the selection process for the members of its CCP committee :
SELECTION OF CCP COMMITTEE MEMBERS
- Members of the CCP committee are selected by the EIFN Council based on proposals made by members as part of a call for applications.
- Members of the EIFN can apply for this position or nominate other members of the EIFN.
- The final and definitive selection of the eight members of the CCP committee will always be up to the EIFN Council. The EIFN Council can request that one or more members of the CCP committee be replaced or added.
- The selection criteria for CCP committee members are as follows : candidates must…
- have a strong interest in Essipit’s development;
- be involved and respected in the community (resident or non-resident);
- be aware of community issues;
- be available.
- In its final selection of the CCP committee members, the EIFN Council ensures that it is representative in the sense that it includes (to the extent possible) Elders, youth, men and women.
Source : Conseil de la Première Nation des Innus Essipit, 2020
The committee’s operations must reflect the mandate entrusted to it and allow it to fully play its role. Operations must also be adapted to the realities of members to facilitate their involvement.
- How often does the committee meet?
- Where and when should meetings be held to support the participation of all members?
- What are the roles during meetings (e.g., note-taking, presentations, technical aspects, etc.)?
- How are decisions made?
Example
The Abitibi8inni First Nation’s committee was created very early on in the process. During the first year, the committee met every two weeks, at the end of the day. Bolstered by healthy snacks brought by the CCP coordinator, the committee guided the process, helped organize engagement activities and participated in training activities. Committee members helped raise CCP awareness in the community and encouraged people to get involved. They participated in all community activities and were very active, whether by taking notes, welcoming participants, managing the room, etc.
What place is there for
external partners?
External partners are the people and organizations outside of your community with whom you have connections. They may include neighbouring municipalities, organizations, ministries, businesses, CEGEPs or universities, etc.
External partners can :
- Share data they have about your community with you
- Facilitate access to funding or resources
- Provide you with specific expertise, etc.
During the implementation stage, external partners can collaborate in carrying out actions. The important thing is to be clear about the roles partners can play and how your community wants to work with them.
Example
The Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw Nations shared their community plan with their partners and allies. A section of the plan provides clear instructions :
“There are many people outside of the Gwa’sala-’Nakwaxda’xw Nations who are committed to the health and wellbeing of our community. If you are one of those people, this document can provide some valuable insight into the goals and vision of our community.
Please keep in mind that although this document can be an aid to understanding, the best way to become familiar with any community is to visit, meet our people, and get to know us on a one-to-one basis.”
(Comprehensive Community Plan, 2016, p. 4)