PURPOSE OF THE TRUST
The Trust has been settled with the objective of benefitting the St’át’imc Beneficiaries. The Trust provides for the professional management, investment and distribution of the Trust property, to assist in the long term well-being of the St’át’imc Beneficiaries. The St’át’imc Beneficiaries are the St’át’imc Authority and the ten Participating Communities of the Settlement Agreement.The Trust provides for the present and the future:
Beneficiaries are able to withdraw funds for specific purposes
Legacy Funds held by the Trust are invested for the future (invested with professional investment managers)
TRUST INDENTURE
The Trust Indenture or Trust Agreement is the legal written document that outlines how the Trust is to operate. The Trust Indenture indicates: who is eligible to benefit from the Trust; how much money may be drawn from the Trust; how Trustees are selected; and how the Trust money is to be invested to ensure security and growth for the future. The Trust Indenture outlines the rights, duties, liabilities and powers of the Trustees.
ROLE OF THE COMMUNITY TRUSTEES
The Community Trustees are responsible for the business of the Trust and to see that the terms of the Trust Indenture are met. The Trustees are responsible for investing the legacy funds for the future and for approving requests for payments to the Beneficiaries. Trustees, in their capacity as Trustees, do not have any information to share regarding the funds that a participating community has drawn from their share of the Trust. The Trustees receive audits from the Beneficiaries to confirm that the funds requested are spent for approved purposes.
Each participating communities Chief and Council Appoints One Community Trustee. The Community Trustees are:
Diana Adolph, T'it'q'et
Morris Prosser, Tsal'alh
Trish Andrew, Sekw'elw'as (Cayoose Creek)
Cecille Comeau, Xa'xtsa (Douglas)
John (Diablo) Nelson, Xaxli'p (Fountain)
Florence Jack, Xwisten (Bridge River)
Raquel Kane, Ts'kw'aylaxw (Pavillion)
Vanessa Mountain N'Quatqua (Anderson Lake)
Christopher Peters, Samahquam
Johnny Sam, Skatin Nations
ROLE OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE TRUSTEE
The Administrative Trustee provides assistance, capacity and support to the Board of Trustees but does not have a vote at any meeting of the Trustees. Any decisions made by the Board of Trustees which isn’t permitted by the Trust Indenture can be vetoed by the Administrative Trustee.
In addition, the Administrative Trustee is the liaison for the Trust's contacts, prepares material and arrangements leading up to and following Trust meetings, and maintains the financial reporting of the Trust.
The Administrative Trustees are Jeff Keeble and Melinda McKie of Deloitte LLP.
ROLE OF CHIEF AND COUNCIL ("COUNCIL")
Council are responsible for completing and submitting to the Trust, the required documentation for funding requests and ensuring that the projects which the funds are requested for fit into the 11 categories (pillars) described in the Trust Indenture. Council are also responsible for ensuring an audit is completed for the funds they have requested from the Trust and submitting these audit documents to the Trust. Council are responsible for keeping their community members informed with regards to the projects they have funded from the Trust and informing their community members of fund balances on a regular basis.
MINIMUM PROTECTED AMOUNT ("MPA")
The Trust is required to hold a minimum of $15 million plus annual inflation (consumer price indexing (CPI) as the Minimum Protected Amount. The Legacy Fund shall, from and after the fifth anniversary be no less than the Minimum Protected Amount and this amount will not be available for distribution prior to the final distribution date which at this time is 99 years.
TRUST FUND USES
The Trust has been settled with the objective of: benefitting the St’át’imc Beneficiaries; providing for the professional management and investment of the Trust funds; and for distribution of Trust funds to the Beneficiaries to provide for or assist in the long-term well-being of the St’at’imc members. No Trust funds are allowed to be distributed as direct payments to Community Members or as per capita distributions. All Trust property is distributed by way of funding requests received from Council. The areas for fund uses are the following categories (pillars):
Participating Communities may choose to resettle their funds in the Trust. This means that they have chosen to leave or return their portion of the annual payment to the Trust and the Trust will invest the funds on their behalf. The community may choose this option for many reasons; awaiting the completion of their comprehensive community plan or for fund growth for the future. These are just two reasons for resettling funds in the Trust. In order to do this the community must have an Investment Policy in place prior to resettling the funds.
CONTRACTS CURRENTLY IN PLACE
Investment Advisor - T.E. Wealth (2012)
Investment Manager - Barrantagh (2012)
Investment Manager - Mawer (2018)
Auditor - MNP LLP (formally KNV) (2013)