Daryn R. Leas
Adéli (Cache Watchman)
Role of the Watchman
While I am not a trustee, I provide general oversight of the management and administration of the Trust and report to the C/TFN. It is my responsibility to ensure that the trustees are taking prudent steps to manage and administer the Trust in the best interests of the C/TFN and in accordance with the deed of settlement.
In particular, I must ensure that the trustees are carrying out their responsibilities in a competent and professional manner. They must complete appropriate training in order to understand the structure and operation of the Trust and the nature and scope of their responsibilities, including compliance with the deed of settlement. They must be prepared to commit the time and effort to undertake their responsibilities. They must seek and fully consider specialized and professional advice during the course of carrying out their responsibilities, such as tax and investment advice.
Therefore, each trustee has signed a code of conduct in which he or she commits to be an active participant so that the trustees are able to function effectively and efficiently as a whole. In particular, the trustees have made an oath under the code committing to undertake the certain responsibilities and duties. The code includes an “oath of office and confidentiality agreement” in which a trustee agrees to immediately resign as a trustee of the Trust in the event that he or she, or his or her fellow trustees or the Watchman, have concluded that he or she breached the oath.
The Watchman has broad powers to ensure that the trustees are carrying out their responsibilities in the best interests of the Trust and the C/TFN, including the following:
- declare that any act by the trustees requires the approval of the Watchman;
- remove any person as a trustee (if more than one trustee is removed in a four year period, the second termination within the four year period must be approved by the General Council);
- fill any vacancy among the trustees; and
- approve the reasonable pay of the trustees.
If the trustees fail to fulfill their responsibilities, I must address that failure. If I do not, I would be failing to fulfill my responsibilities and may be liable.
The Watchman may resign in writing to the Council and the trustees. The General Council may remove the Watchman with a 75 percent vote of the members of the General Council.
2022 Adéli Report
The General Council of the Carcross/Tagish First Nation (the “C/TFN”) approved the Daanaa jili (Cache) Act at its meeting of January 28, 2006, and the Executive Council subsequently appointed me as the Watchman of the Trust and nominated citizens for appointment as the initial Trustees. The Trustees are responsible to manage the investment of the Trust’s property in order to preserve and grow its value to ensure that future generations also benefit from the Trust’s property.
Since that time, the C/TFN have transferred various funds and assets to the Trust, including the following.
(a) The full amount of the financial compensation payments made to the C/TFN under Chapter 19 of the Carcross/Tagish First Nation Final Agreement (the “Final Agreement”). The final annual payment was made in 2020.
(b) The full amount of the C/TFN’s share of the section 87 compensation payment made pursuant to section 20.6 of the Final Agreement.
(c) The five annual payments made to C/TFN for the reimbursement of the land claim loans and interest paid to Canada pursuant to Schedule “C” of Chapter 19 of the Final Agreement. The final annual payment will be made in April 2024.
(d) The C/TFN’s units of Northern Vision Development that had a value of approximately $175,000 ($2021).
(e) The C/TFN’s shares of the First Nations Bank of Canada that had a value of approximately $780,000 ($2021)
As of March 31, 2023, the Trust had a value of more than $68 million, including earnings and interest generated from the investment of the above-noted funds and assets that have been transferred to the Trust. However, the purpose of the Trust is not to simply generate income and grow the value of the Trust’s property. The Trust was also established to distribute – or transfer – a portion of its income to the C/TFN to provide benefits to the current generation without affecting the interests of future generations. If the value of the Trust continues to grow, I expect that the Trustees will be able to make annual distributions to the C/TFN.
While the Trustees have no authority with respect to the administration of any funds that have been distributed to the C/TFN, the Trustees and I remain committed to work with the C/TFN and its citizens to establish a transparent process for citizens to ensure that C/TFN citizens make the decisions as to how the funds distributed from the Trust are used.
As the Watchman, it is my responsibility to ensure that the Trustees are managing and administering the Trust in the best interests of the C/TFN and the Trust operates in accordance with the Trust’s deed of settlement. In my view, the Trustees – Karen Lepine, Cynthia James, Marg Baufeld, Roxanne LeCarte, Mark Wedge and Dana Sellars, who serves as the Youth Trustee – continue to carry out their duties in a prudent and professional manner and act in the best interests of the C/TFN with respect to the operation of the Trust and the management and administration of the Trust’s property.
If you have any questions or require any information about the Trust, please do not hesitate to contact me at your convenience at daryn.leas@me.com.
Thank you.
Daryn R. Leas
2021 Adéli Report
At the time that the Carcross/Tagish First Nation (the “C/TFN”) was considering the management of the financial compensation payable under the terms of the Carcross/Tagish First Nation Final Agreement (the “Final Agreement”) in 2005, citizens stressed the importance that future generations must also benefit from the financial compensation. Citizens recognized that, upon the ratification of the Final Agreement, they had agreed, on behalf of their future generations, to transform Aboriginal rights of C/TFN citizens relating to their traditional territory in the Yukon Territory to the treaty rights set out in the Final Agreement. Therefore, it was important to ensure that both current and future generations of the C/TFN would be able to enjoy benefits from the Trust.
As a result, citizens wanted to ensure that the management of the financial compensation would be prudent and wise. Citizens wanted to put the financial compensation in a safe place similar to a “high cache” were people used to store their dried fish and meat and other goods in a secure, dry place that could not be disturbed by animals. This allowed people to draw on these resources when they needed them and replenish and store them for future use when they had plenty. This is the objective of the Trust: to safeguard the financial compensation to ensure that it is managed so that both current and future generations will be able to use and enjoy the benefits of the financial compensation.
Like a high cache, the Trust is a safe place since it has established a number of “checks and balances” to protect the financial compensation. These checks and balances include the following:
Firstly, the Trust is separate and independent from the C/TFN. This means that the Trust’s property is protected from any debts or liabilities of the C/TFN and its development corporations and the decisions relating to the management of the Trust’s property are made without any political interference.
Secondly, the management of the Trust’s property is subject to a high-degree of accountability and transparency. The deed of settlement for the Trust (the “Deed”) establishes rules relating to the management of the Trust’s property, including its distribution and investment. The Watchman provides general oversight of the Trustees’ performance. The C/TFN approves the investment policy that provides direction to the investment managers for the investment of the Trust’s property. The custodian provides annual reporting of the transactions relating to the Trust’s property. The financial records of the Trust are audited annually. The Trustees and Watchman provide periodic reports and updates to the C/TFN and its citizens.
Most importantly, the Trustees, who have always been C/TFN citizens, are solely responsible for the management and administration of the Trust’s property, not by the C/TFN. The C/TFN may make requests or recommendations to the Trustees, but it cannot issue directions to the Trustees or be involved in decision-making relating to the management and administration of the Trust. The Trustees have a legal duty to manage the Trust in the best interests of the C/TFN in accordance with the Dáanaa Jíli (Cache) Trust Act and the Deed. If they do not or act negligently, they would be personally liable for losses or damages to the Trust.
To date, I have had no concerns about the performance of the Trustees or the operation of the Trust since its establishment in 2006 and, during the course of 2021, the value of the Trust’s public and private investments continued to grow and had a value of more than $60 million at the end of 2021.
The operation of the Trust has shown us that C/TFN citizens have the skills and capacity to manage the financial compensation and no one will manage our financial compensation as well as you. This is the essence of self-governance: being responsible for your affairs.
If you have any questions or require any information about the Trust, please do not hesitate to contact me at your convenience at daryn.leas@me.com.
Mähsi’,
Daryn R. Leas
2020 Adéli Report
As the Adéli at káxh adéli (Cache Watchman) of the Dáanaa Jíli (cache) Trust (the “Trust”), I am pleased that first annual report for the Trust’s operation for 2020 has been provided to the Carcross/Tagish First Nation (the “C/TFN”) and its citizens.
I wish health and wellness to you and your family members. your family members. 2020 was a very challenging year. The impacts of the COVID pandemic affected everyone and everything. The COVID pandemic also affected global markets and businesses around the world. While global equity markets dropped more than 25 percent in the first quarter of 2020, I am pleased to confirm that the Trust’s investments recovered and had a strong return of 8.3 percent for 2020.
Under the Carcross/Tagish First Nation Final Agreement (the “Final Agreement”), Canada is obligated to provide fifteen annual payments of financial compensation to the C/TFN. The C/TFN recognized that this financial compensation and its proceeds must be managed so that both present and future generations would benefit from them.
To that end, the General Council enacted the Dáanaa Jíli (Cache) Act at its meeting on January 28, 2006, in accordance with the C/TFN’s constitution, to establish the Trust, as a legal body that is separate and independent from the C/TFN, to manage and administer the financial compensation and other assets transferred to the Trust. It also establishes the roles and liabilities of the Trustees and Cache Watchman.
The Cache Watchman has a limited role in the management of the Trust’s property since the Trustees for responsibility for the management and investment of the Trust’s property. However, the Cache Watchman has important responsibilities and duties, such ensuring that: the Trustees are managing and administering the Trust in the best interests of the C/TFN; and the Trust operates in accordance with the Trust’s deed of settlement. The Cache Watchman has specific powers, including the appointment or removal of Trustees and the approval of the reasonable fees, costs and expenses of the Trustees.
I point out that the Act acknowledges that the Trustees and the Cache Watchman are called upon to act in ways that are based on C/TFN’s values and virtues to serve the best interests of the community when carrying out their duties. It is important that the following values and virtues, that are drawn from C/TFN citizens’ stewardship responsibilities relating to their lands and resources, continue to guide them as they make decisions for all of C/TFN’s children’s children for many generations.
INTEGRITY Integrity keeps us on a path carved out by our values as we work through many challenges and temptations. In this way, we maintain our integrity and make the best decisions for our future.
SELFLESSNESS We have thrived in our traditional territory by sharing, by ensuring the needs of others were answered. And so, it is today that we serve others before we serve our own needs. To grow as a community, no one can be left behind, no one left in need. We are not measured by what we have but by what we give. Selflessness is our traditional way of being valuable in life.
HONOUR We honour our families by honouring our values in the ways we take care of others, in the ways we look after our land, resources and all the blessings we have. In our tradition, we seek first to honour not ourselves but our place with our ancestors and others.
RESPECT We must hear with respect all voices within our community and commit to improve our connections to each, and to our community in order to be able to meet the needs of our future generations. Respecting the opinion of others and striving to work together puts into practice the traditional value of respect.
COURAGE Courage is fundamental in meeting and making difficult decisions. We need courage to take risks to grow, courage to have faith in ourselves, courage to stand up for what we believe and most important courage to work and stay together as a people, as a community, as a First Nation. We will need courage to accept that unity stands above our personal needs and desires.
KNOWLEDGE Both traditional experience and current knowledge are needed to determine how the Trust must be cared for and used. The wisdom of our Elders must be combined with the knowledge of our youth and new leaders. All knowledge and wisdom within our community is important in making difficult choices and in learning new ways to survive and prosper.
I appreciate the opportunity to work with the Trustees – Karen Lepine, Roxanne LaCarte, Marge Baufeld, Cynthia James and Mark Wedge – and others, including the Executive Council and General Council, in accordance with the above-noted values and virtues, to preserve and grow the C/TFN’s financial compensation assets for the benefit of both current and future generations. While the value of the Trust’s property is presently more than $50 million, the Trustees continue to work to grow this amount so that it can be used to support the C/TFN’s objectives to build a prosperous, health and culturally vibrant community.
If you have any questions or require any information about the Trust, please do not hesitate to contact me at your convenience at daryn.leas@me.com.
Thank you,
Daryn R. Leas