Less than three weeks after Effective Day – the day that Tsawwassen First Nation’s treaty turned into being – Chief Kim Baird was preparing for TFN to be installed as the newest member of Metro Vancouver, sitting at the table as equals with cities like Vancouver, Surrey and Burnaby.
And then? Well, then she was going to go and have a baby.
She took time to talk to Klahowya about the important elements in a process that took nearly 20 years.
There is one thing that isn’t much talked about, but has certainly evident for two decades… the people Kim Baird surrounds herself with to get the job done.
Of course, on the day she spoke, Kim’s thoughts were on the one person who had not yet arrived in the new nation. After the April 24 Metro meeting, she planned to spend a quiet weekend and then, on the Monday, give birth to her third child. But already she was already planning a return to work in June with her baby.
During the Effective Day ceremonies in the Tsawwassen longhouse on April 3, several of the invited guests referred to Kim’s pregnancy. Among them was Chuck Strahl, Canada’s Indian Affairs Minister, who said he noticed that Kim also had a new baby around the time that TFN voted to pass the treaty and another one when it signed its agreement-in-principle.
Think strategically and think long term
There is no big secret about how to attract good people, said Kim. One only has to have an open mind and seek out the most talented people from both inside and outside the community.
“I’ve been extremely fortunate, ever since I started working here, in getting good people,” Kim said. “I canvassed the community and tried to
co-opt anyone I could. I tried to rope in our
brightest people, regardless of what family they’re from.”
Not only was she able to attract top talent from within, but she has also been able to attract what she calls “a huge range of external talent”.
Asked why all these people have come to work at TFN, Kim says she can only repeat what others have said to her.
“People say they admire the vision and dedication I bring.”
That vision was apparent even in the early 1990s when she first started her quest for nationhood.
“I started by thinking strategically and thinking long term,” Kim said. “We had to figure out how to best enhance our organization in the long term so, even if the treaty process failed, we would at least have capacity.
“We made capacity applications for funding for whatever area we needed. We never knew if we would succeed or not, but we wanted to have that capacity whatever happened.”
Andrew Bak’s role expands
Andrew Bak has come a long way since first being elected as a TFN councillor three years ago. Chief Baird said that Bak is just one example of how capacity funding has benefited her nation.
Bak was recently re-elected councillor and is also TFN’s GIS and resource analyst. His depart-ment handles the many referrals that come to TFN; everything from local farmers and landowners to Transport Canada and DeltaPort.
He’s helped build an integrated referrals related database. It includes TFN’s traditional use study and links to a geographic information system.
On April 24, Bak was installed as TFN’s alternate on the Metro Vancouver board. He will be sitting in the chief’s place on the board while Kim is on maternity leave.
