Honourable Chief Wayne Pamajewon and councillors of Shawanaga First Nation.

We the off reserve members would like to put forth this petition that we as members of Shawanaga First Nation should also be allocated a Christmas Gift of 400 dollars per household and a voucher for a Turkey for our Christmas dinner. It is stated that in order for us off reserve members to collect this gift and turkey voucher, we must travel home and attend the community Christmas party.

We, the off reserve members do not feel this is fair. As I know many of us would love to attend and join in the festivities and also visit with our family and friends but travel to and from Shawanaga in the middle of winter on a week night when people have to work and attend school is just not feasible, and can also be potentially life threatening in bad weather conditions.

Many of us off reserve members struggle during the holidays, not just to provide gifts for little ones who still believe in Santa Claus, but to put food on our tables or pay bills. There are young parents who will pack up their little ones and brave treacherous weather and put their lives in danger just to collect the 400 dollars, in order to give their little ones a good Christmas.

This is not fair at all, it's actually sad. The money that is given out at Christmas, to the best of our knowledge, comes from the Casino Rama OLG funds which is allocated to Shawanaga First Nation based on total membership whether we be living on or off the Rez. Therefore we should be included in recieving benefits from these funds. It's wrong that the 150 members living on shawanaga get to reap benefits from these funds which are allocated based on our nation as a whole, with approximately 500 of us living off Rez receiving nothing.

We would like to put forth that we are able to have our Christmas money and turkey voucher sent to us in the post, rather than driving for 5 or more hours during a week night in the middle of the winter.

Please know that we as off the reserve members are not trying to be confrontational, nor are we in any way trying to slight chief and council by bringing this forth. We just feel left out and feel we are being treated unfairly.

All for one and one for all, or none for all.

ONLY REGISTERED MEMBERS MAY SIGN

Thank you very much for your time in this matter

Sincerely;

Your off reserve members of Shawanaga First Nation

Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays