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| Jean Pogge and Devlin Fernandes from ecotrust Canada provided a short presentation to Prince Rupert Council on Monday night. |
Monday was presentation night at Prince Rupert City Council and leading off the night was the Canadian charity group Ecotrust, with two representatives appearing in front of Council to introduce the program on the North Coast and provide a thumbnail sketch of some of their activities and engagement in the region.
Ms. Jean Pogge the President of Ecotrust opened the presentation, outlining the nature of the federally registered charity and its role in helping to build economic alternatives and solutions for people and place, with a balance between social, Cultural and ecological benefits.
A familiar face for many in Prince Rupert was also at the table Monday, as Ms. Devlin Fernandes, who is involved in a number of activities in the region provided Council with some background in her role as the Senior Manager of the program in Prince Rupert.
Monday, she reviewed the guiding principles for Ecotrust Canada, explaining for Council how ecotrust puts the focus on a number of areas including local control and benefit from resources and development, added value to natural resources and recognition of Aboriginal title and rights.
Their current strategic priorities involve the Forestry, Fishery, Energy and Local Knowledge based initiatives .
Other topics covered during the course of the presentation included the approach the organization takes and the engagement that they bring to communities. On those themes, they commended the Mayor on the recent Redesign Rupert Recharge event and the approach brought to engagement with the community.
The two also shared some of the details related to their work out of the Skeena office which has taken on a number of areas of study related to fisheries along the North Coast, noting that they are probably best known for the work with Area A Crab association and in other areas of community fisheries on the North Coast.
Other aspects of their work is directed towards Sustainable Marine Fisheries and Communities Alliance and providing support to fishermen, communities, organizations and First Nations.
As well as a look the provided a look at some of their plans heading towards the future and their thoughts on how to develop a resilient economy. When it comes to their approach towards those themes, they noted that ecotrust is place based and looks to build trusted relationships in order to grow good ideas and engage stakeholders.
The pair faced only one question from Council, as Councillor Cunningham noted the list of some of their current initiatives and inquired whether they have any focus on the theme of LNG; they explained that on energy issues they are not an environmental NGO and tend to stay more towards such areas as helping people to transition from diesel-electric to renewable energy options.
Mayor Brain also noted that they both had attended the weekend's Redesign Rupert Recharge event and singled out Ms. Fernandes for her work as a facilitator at that event on Saturday.
The full discussion can be reviewed from the City's Video archive starting at the two and half minute mark of the night's proceedings.
More background on what ecotrust is all about and their efforts in Prince Rupert can be found from their website here. You can contact the Prince Rupert office at 250-624-4191.
An extended look at the topic can be found on our City Council Timeline here.
For more items related to Prince Rupert City Council see our Discussion Archive page here.
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