Greetings to the Klahoose people!

I am grateful for the warm reception from the people of Klahoose. My new position as Chief Councillor has been a most interesting time for me. As your newly elected leader I want to express to you how happy and proud I am to be working for the nation’s best interests.

The last few weeks I have been spending much time with the administration staff and community members to gain the most knowledge as I can about our current financial and social well-being. Luckily for me I have an administration background so much of the work I have to do is well within my reach for success. I must say that the staff have welcomed me and are adjusting to the changes in leadership. The community near and far have been responsive and are keen on seeing the good work that this band can do. I am positive that together we can all join in on the success story to come.

As council we have made some short term goals and are building on some important far reaching efforts for building capacity within the Nation. We are in the process of employment and training initiatives, upgrades on our sewer water systems, discussions with a second phase of the Run-of-River project in the Toba Valley, housing, treaty, education, social development, fisheries and our economic development just to name a few. One of the important goals for this council is to hold general band meetings in four main locations to discuss our audit and to get feedback from our membership. These meetings will take place at the beginning of the New Year and will be announced in the next few weeks. Our grand opening for the new administration building will be set for April 2012.

At this time I would like to express my deepest respect for all of our past leaders who have worked so hard for our Klahoose Nation; sacrificing time and energy to work for our people. I look forward to working with Jessie, Mavis and Kathy on this new journey. I also wanted to respectfully recognize the efforts of my predecessor Chief Ken Brown; I wish you all the success in your new endeavours much like you completed for Klahoose.

We are at a pivotal moment in the history of Klahoose. We have a financial base that is growing and we have the needs of the nation to consider. In the year ahead we will be looking for our membership to guide us and help make decisions and plan for our future.

With respect,

James Delorme
Chief Councillor
Klahoose First Nation 250.935.6536 ext. 236