
Courtesy: Town of High Level
The Dene Tha’ First Nation and Town of High Level have formalized their collaborative
friendship by signing of a historic friendship agreement.
The official signing took place on Saturday morning, Aug. 27, 2022, in the community of Bushe
River as part of the 2022 Dene Tha’ First Nation Welcome Back Gathering.
The Agreement recognizes the Dene Tha’ First Nation and Town of High Level as partners with
shared principals, vision, and purpose. It also lays out the process for which this official
friendship agreement will allow both partners to commit to shared regional goals.
“I’m very proud of the signing of this friendship agreement,” said Mayor Crystal McAteer. The
Town of High Level feels it is well positioned to exemplify what it means to uphold the honour
of the Crown. We are deeply committed to forging a reciprocal relationship with the Dene people
– including the duty to consult.”
“The vision of this agreement is that we can politically and administratively strengthen both our
communities. And have an agreement like this where we respectfully, and collaboratively share
in progressive communities.
“We have a stronger relationship when we walk together and see the vision together. The Town
of High Level and I, personally, are so honoured to have finally formalized this official friendship
agreement recognizing a formal path forward together.”
The signing of this friendship agreement, the first of its kind between the Town of High Level
and Dene Tha’ First Nation, has been a long time coming. Discussions regarding an agreement
have been in the works since 2016.
Both the DTFN and ToHL felt strongly that, as neighbours, it was time to deepen and formalize
their relationship. It was understood that in order to create this mutually beneficial and respectful
relationship, that the Town needed to learn from their DTFN neighbours. This included lessons
about Dene laws and governance practices.
In May, 2021, the Dene Tha’ First Nation and Town of High Level completed the First Nation –
Municipal Community Economic Development Initiative (CEDI) program, which provided the
partnership with third-party neutral facilitation, monthly Working Group and sub-committee
meetings, bi-annual workshops, and joint strategic and work planning design.
Over the past three years, the Dene Tha’ First Nation and Town of High Level partnership has
established a Working Group that includes elected officials and staff and meets monthly. This
Working Group has identified shared priorities and advanced three joint initiatives, including:
A waterline connection between Town of High Level and Bushe River and a feasibility
study for wastewater infrastructure at Bushe River
A joint emergency plan for the four communities, and
A Multipurpose Evacuation Centre
Keith Hopper, Trending 55