What’s a General Assembly?

Well it’s definitely turned out to be a Yukon Winter. We were off to a pretty warm start, but this past week I attended my First Nation’s annual general assembly and it was a whopping -52 in Burwash. Even considering the extreme cold there was a good turn out at the meeting confirming how tough Yukoners are.

In relaying this story to some of my co-workers I received a number of questions about general assemblies so I thought I would try an answer in this weeks Blog.

Each of the First Nations in the Yukon (and many down south) have an annual meeting for the purpose of sharing information with their Citizens and gaining feedback on the First Nation’s activities for the upcoming year.

The participation in a general assembly is a right of the Citizen, usually outlined in a First Nations Constitution. It is a right that many take very seriously (in my case serious enough to travel out to Burwash at -50 temps). This is the time we get to hear all the reports about the operations of the First Nation and also the opportunity to provide feedback to the administration and leadership on what we as a Citizen would like to see from the First Nation.

To me it’s an event that truly brings the leadership and the Citizen together. We have an opportunity to learn about, and even more importantly, participate in the affairs of our Government.

As always if you have a question for us feel free to post or e-mail and we will respond in a following Blog.

Stay warm and take care.