
The Land Use Planning Committee was established in 2001 as set out
in the Dehcho First Nations Interim Measures Agreement. As per the agreement,
the Committee is composed of five members - one representative each
from the Government
of Canada and the Government
of the Northwest Territories, two representatives from the Dehcho First Nations, and the chair of the Committee who will be
chosen by the other four Committee members.
Board members and staff as of the end of April, 2007 are:
Board
Member
Petr Cizek,
Dehcho First Nations Representative - Director
For over a dozen years, Petr Cizek lived and worked in the Northwest Territories. He is an independent environmental consultant who specializes in the integration and analysis of traditional knowledge and natural resource data using geographic information systems. He is a graduate of the land use planning programs at the University of Waterloo (BES 1988) and the University of Guelph (MSc. 1992).
Petr is currently living in Vancouver and working on a PhD at the Collaborative for Advanced Landscape Planning in the Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia.
Board
Member
Bob Overvold,
Federal Representative - Director
Bob Overvold was born and raised in the MacKenzie Valley Community of Tulita. He attended high school in Yellowknife, then took teacher training going on to become one of the Northwest Territories first graduates of the teacher educational program. Following that, he attended the University of Alberta where he attained a Bachelor of Education Degree. Mr. Overvold taught elementary school in Inuvik and Hay River, and also worked as the Chief Negotiator for the Dene/Métis Comprehensive Land Claims. Mr. Overvold then joined the Government of the Northwest Territories as Principal Secretary to Dennis Patterson, former Government Leader. He then went on to be the Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs.
Mr. Overvold recently retired from the federal government after spending the past ten years working for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada as Regional Director General, NWT Region. He resides in Yellowknife with his wife and two children.
Board
Member
Shannon Cumming,
GNWT Representative
Shannon Cumming is currently an Associate Director with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Government of the Northwest Territories. Originally from Fort Smith, he has extensive experience on land and resource issues. He is a graduate of Mount Royal College (Community and Regional Planning), the University of Calgary (Geography/Resource Management) and the University of British Columbia (Law).
Shannon gained experience with land use planning with the Denendeh Land Use Planning Commission, the forerunner to the current regional land use planning processes.
Prior to coming to the GNWT, Shannon worked for many years with the Northwest Territory Métis Nation, serving as legal counsel and then as Chief Negotiator. He gained exposure to complex negotiations, intergovernmental relations, community consultations and policy and regulatory issues.
Shannon credits his parents with instilling in him the belief that education is the key to our communities’ achieving their vision of being strong and self-reliant. He speaks to youth about the importance of achieving a post-secondary education, and participates in mentoring opportunities for the emerging generation of leaders in the NWT. Shannon believes strongly in the principles of integrated resource management and collaborative work, and looks forward to working with the Dehcho Land Use Planning Committee.
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The Board's responsibility is to guide the development of the plan
and ensure proper consultation and communication is occurring with
all relevant parties. The actual development of the plan will be
done by staff at the Land Use Planning Office. Staff recruitment
has been an ongoing and evolving process as the board assessed their
requirements. There are five staff members in total: an Executive
Director, Land Use Planner, Land Use Planner Trainee, GIS analyst,
and an Office Manager.
The following staff members are based out of the head office in Fort Providence:
Staff Member
Sophie
Bonnetrouge, Office Manager
Sophie grew up in Fort Providence. She has completed her Adult Basic
Education (ABE) and a 2 year diploma program in Management Studies
at Aurora College in Fort Smith. She is currently seeking a Finance
Officer’s Certificate through the Community Finance Program,
Municipal and Community Affairs.
She has successfully completed
the first half of the certificate and applies her skills proficiently
in managing the Committee’s financial systems and records.
As a local, she has been invaluable in developing links between
the Planning Committee and the local community in which we operate.
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