It was a festive mood in at the Arbor on the Shulus Reserve last Thursday as the Lower Nicola Indian Band held their first ever annual general assembly.

“This is going to be the first of many, I’m sure,” said Lower Nicola Chief Aaron Sam.

The assembly was an all-day event, with bouncy castles and raffles mixed in with the financial reports from the band’s various departments throughout the day.

The event coincided with a relaunch of the band’s website.

According to the band’s executive director, Helder Ponte, the band is running a surplus. “It’s not like the objective is to have a surplus,” said Ponte. “The objective is to provide services, but governments often provide services and then run into deficits. We are providing services and have a surplus situation.”

They also expanded the newsletter, which is distributed to band members each month, and introduced a special meeting every month that focuses on one specific topic.

They are also planning to expand the school by adding four new classrooms, and building a community centre in Rocky Pines, the largest of the reserve’s four neighbourhoods where most of the young families live, said Ponte.

The band continues working towards getting their own land code, which would enable them to administer their own land, separate from the federal government.

“It takes about two years to get this done, but it is a step in the right direction,” said Ponte. “It will provide more independence in the process, and it will be quicker, because you wait sometimes six years or seven years to get the land transfer through Aboriginal Affairs.”

He said having their own code would cut that time down to a matter of months, more in line with other municipalities.

Another achievement from this past year was attaining financial certification. “We now have our own financial act that governs our administration,” said Ponte, adding that only about 35 other bands across Canada have achieved this.

“It enables us to borrow money at lower costs, because people will recognize that our standards are very very high,” said Ponte. “We’ll be able to access financing the same way the City of Kelowna or any other municipality can.”

Ponte said this will be particularly useful in getting long-term financing for infrastructure projects.

The director said he’s optimistic about the future. “We have a very good team, a very good council, and support from membership. It’s good,” he said.