Jean Marie River (Sep 29/06) - Jean Marie River is considering ways to spice up its annual general meeting in an attempt to increase participation.

The meeting was scheduled to be held on Sept. 16, but was cancelled when none of the four band councillors attended. The 14 people who did attend spent the afternoon discussing issues that the community needs to address. Ideas were also tossed around on how to draw out more band members.

"More effort needs to be taken to make this a successful meeting," said Gladys Norwegian.

She called for Chief Stan Sanguez to put his foot down and make the band council accountable. She also suggested that all the band members should be personally contacted and informed about the meeting.

Holding a feast and a drum dance or reimbursing some of the cost of travel were options raised by Angela Norwegian.

"I care about this community. I want good things to happen here," Norwegian said.

All the participants agreed that more time than just an afternoon is needed to cover the necessary topics.

There is a lot to discuss, said Gladys Norwegian, starting with whether the community plan is being followed.

"People are very disgruntled. Progress hasn't been made," Norwegian said.

Members of the band who are currently living outside of the community are considering forming their own committee because they feel they aren't being represented, said Norwegian.

Some people are also questioning if the band is using its money properly, she said.

Margaret Ireland suggested that the community needs to discuss ways to become more fiscally independent.

There's currently lots of funding from the federal and territorial governments, said Ireland, but the community has nothing to fall back on. Ireland said the community should examine projects that worked in the past and transfer them to the present.

Chief Stan Sanguez said his main concerns for the meeting are to discuss the new deal offered by the territorial government and the Community Capacity Building Fund. The advice and suggestions given by those at Saturday's meeting will be taken into consideration, Sanguez said.

Jean Marie River's annual general meeting has been rescheduled for Oct. 14.