Alice Bushie, Bookkeeper

Giving Back

Giving Back

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"I've given back to my community as much as I can. They’ve given me my free education. They’ve paid for a lot of what I’ve done.

"And in the time that I have worked for my First Nations people, I have paid them back by working for them, working for their kids.

"But it's something that I like to do. It's in my heart to do it.”

Working with Auditors

Working with Auditors

Every year Indian Affairs and the First Nations hire an independent auditor to look at our accounts in the computer system. They're the people we receive money from and they need to see it's being spent where it's supposed to be.

That time of year is really hectic. I work from 8:30 in the morning until sometimes 8:30 in the evening. I have to prepare our accounts to show the auditor everything that's going on.

What I Do

What I Do

My work is mainly computerized bookkeeping. I transfer all accounting records into our Accpac Plus accounting system. I work on daily, weekly totals, and then month end totals.

My job is very important because without it, people don't get paid. Being there and doing my work is a must. If I slough off, someone might not get a travel cheque in time or money to repair their home.

The Filter

The Filter

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"I'm the one that everybody has to filter through to get to whoever they want to get to. If people want to know how much money they have left within their budget before they go up and ask the administrator, they have to go through me.

"Because I'm the bookkeeper that keeps track of what they’ve spent, how much money they’ve received. So everybody has to filter through me. Every day my office is full of people.”

Where I Work

Where I Work

Hollow Water First Nation is one of the nine bands of the Southeast Tribal Council. Hollow Water has about eleven hundred people in total with about six hundred living on the reserve.

I work at the Band Office and we deal with things like managing community services, paying bills, education and training, and managing the environment.

Working with Housing

Working with Housing

Apart from my basic job, I operate two housing corporations. One corporation purchases empty homes in our community from Indian Affairs. Then we renovate them and rent them back to our own people. The people get good quality homes and the money stays in our community.

With the other corporation and Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation funding, we've built fifteen new housing units. This is another way to provide alternative for housing our people.

Life Lessons

Life Lessons

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"A lot of what I value today reflects back to my grandparents. I’ve been taught not to be too materialistic. I’ve been taught not to judge people for the colour of their skin or who they might be.

"It was instilled in me that I had to grow up to be somebody. I could not be a nobody. That wasn’t what life was all about.

"I will always know who I am, where I am; doesn’t matter where it is."

Indigenous Games

Indigenous Games

Every summer the cadets compete in the North American Indigenous Games. I've organized our group for about eight years. We take forty or fifty kids to compete in five sports including golfing, volleyball, baseball and track and field.

We start preparing in May or June, then go for a week in July. Some of the parents come as well as Child and Family Services and the community Holistic Circle Healing Counsellors.

Cadet Corps

Cadet Corps

I took on training to become an officer to come back to our community to form a cadet corps. It was very intense; it was very different.

When my training was over I started a cadet corps in my home community. Our kids were going through a rough time at that point and needed some direction and support.

The Fort Garry Horse Corps from Winnipeg came out and helped me at first. They came twice a week to try to promote the program so the kids would feel safe. It was a lot of work but it was worth it for the kids.

Happy Childhood

Happy Childhood

My grandparents raised me in a very happy atmosphere. They understood the true value of life. Education meant something but having fun was also important. Even though pressures were there, they didn't smoke or drink too much. I was pretty carefree as a teenager.

We had a set of daily chores. We'd go to school, come home, do our chores, and then we could go out and have fun with our friends. That taught us responsibility early on and it was a valuable lesson.

Monday Pressure

Monday Pressure

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"Bookkeepers tend to make Fridays their last day of the week. Realistically, it isn’t your last day; Monday will be the last day of last week. Monday is always a hard working day because I'm projecting what's going to happen all this week and finalizing everything that happened last week."

Tons of Paper

Tons of Paper

By law we have to keep track of our records back at least seven years for auditing purposes. Our records go back to 1992, to when our office burnt down, so we're okay.

That's still a lot of paper. Anything an auditor wants can have you rummaging from office to office trying to find the right records.

We've tried to set up a better system, but it's hard because every two years our Council changes. They always want something different.

General Pace

General Pace

The pace is really fast. I'm never alone in my office to just sit there and think about what I'm going to do next. It's very demanding because whenever people need cash, it has to come through me. It's about sixty per cent of what I do in the office.

On a daily basis, I'm either paying out to people or paying out to retailers. There's a constant flow of maybe twenty or thirty people every day. And I have to keep track of it all.

Travel

Travel

I travel two or three days a week. I pick up housing stuff here, drop off documents there and go to CMHC (Canadian Mortgage and Housing) quite a bit because we're always borrowing from them.

There's a lot of banking too, making sure every week the money we need is there. So I drive all over the place: Pine Falls, Selkirk, Winnipeg.

For housing, we go even as far as Thompson. My kids accuse me of being gone too much, but it's part of my job.

Monday Activities

Monday Activities

Another Monday activity is when the staff come in to tell me what they need and what they need it for.

The manager also comes in asking for a cash count and so I'll go and talk to the Welfare Administrator to see how much money is available and what they can do this week.

Mondays have to be really organized. If I procrastinate, I spend the rest of the week playing catch-up.

Listen and Respect

Listen and Respect

My grandparents taught us that if you respect people and listen to them honestly, you will learn something new every day. Learning doesn't end when you finish school. I keep a log book with my plan for each day. I try to schedule everything I want to achieve.

It's too easy to get knocked off course and end up just putting in your eight hours. I need to know I've accomplished something specific every day.

Private Information

Private Information

Sometimes the less I know, the better I feel. I don't want to know anything and everything that's going on in our organization or community.

Certain things are confidential until they're finalized, and I have to hold them in. I can't go out of my workplace feeling relaxed. If someone asks me, I'm not supposed to say anything ahead of time.

That's an area I find not so enjoyable about my work.

Home Community

Home Community

My office is a very professional place, just like CMHC or anywhere else. Working for your own people, you'd think you might get a bit more leeway. But working for your own home community is a lot harder. People think it's easier, but it's not.

It's hard when you're working with and for people you've lived with all your life because what I deal with is very personal. But work is work and you shouldn't limit yourself one way or the other.

Technical Challenges

Technical Challenges

I love the challenge of learning new technical things. We use Win 98 right now, with QuickBooks for the small stuff and Accpac Plus for the big accounting system. I was so excited when I got into Excel. There are always new wrinkles to overcome almost daily.

I keep on top of whatever's changing, whether it's a small thing or a big new computer system. I make sure I know what other people are using so I don't fall behind.

Difficult to Balance

Difficult to Balance

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"Well I'm having a hard time dealing with home life, work life. My kids accuse me of not balancing it. I try and do things with my kids in the evening, just to take me away from my home.

"If I can leave my home every evening, I’m fine. If I can’t, I’ve got something here to do that will take me back to my workplace again. So my house is always bare every evening!"

First Nation Programs

First Nation Programs

The best part about my training was that I had an income throughout. My home First Nations co-sponsored me on-the-job. But it's easier for our aboriginal youth now because you can get sponsored right out of high school.

You get one year of full-time college or university covered. If you make good that first year, you're sailing. They'll pay until you've finished your degree. But if you fool around, you'll lose that opportunity.

Math and Science

Math and Science

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"I knew at some point in time math and science were going to be an area that I wanted to have an interest in. And because I had the best of the teachers, I enjoyed going to math, I enjoyed going to science classes.

"I took the managerial two year course at the University of Winnipeg and I knew that’s where I wanted to be. It had math in it, it had science in it. It had what I wanted."

Don't Waste Time

Don't Waste Time

I wouldn't waste two or three years at any institution, even university, to go to a job I didn't enjoy. I knew what I liked in high school and what I wanted to do. It took me a few years to find my exact calling, but I knew I was setting myself up for life.

I was never one to waste time. I took a detour here and there when I was younger, but I never wasted effort on something I didn't like.

People Skills

People Skills

I wasn't always the outspoken person that I am now. It took some time and training. Being in the reserves gave me more confidence in public speaking because that's where I took Toastmasters.

I never wanted to be in the spotlight, but running the cadet corps, I was the leader and had to be out front.

Even in my job now, I have to be strong, straightforward and calm. I have to assess people, control situations and sometimes be strict and stern.

Education Opportunity

Education Opportunity

After high school, I worked for the First Nations as a receptionist.

I saw an opportunity to take a Program Management course on-the-job through the University of Winnipeg and did that for two and a half years.

I graduated in 1992 and was promoted to bookkeeper.

Chartered Accountant

Chartered Accountant

I want to be a Chartered Accountant. It's the most challenging next step and better for me than becoming a Certified General Accountant. We have a Financial Officers Association set up through the First Nations of Manitoba. I'm sure they will help me when the time comes.

Last year they put through a course that would help you become a CA. They assess what stage you're at by looking at your education and work experience. Then they take you from that stage through to your CA. That's my plan.

Not Indispensable

Not Indispensable

I'm not the only administrator in my community. There were several of us in the training course. Three of us are in administration right now.

One is in Social Services, one is the Band Manager and I'm the bookkeeper. Another runs a fishing co-op and one has become an electrician and plumber.

I'm not indispensable; I could go today and they'd replace me tomorrow. But I like to think that in my own way I'm doing a good job.

Youth Worker Certification

Youth Worker Certification

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"Other than getting the CA, I would like to take some kind of training in working more intensely with kids.

"That is the goal that I have for myself. It’s my personal goal: to continue doing a lot of things with our youth, but to have a certificate to do it.

"That is what I really want. To work some way with kids, and then get my CA."

Close Community

Close Community

Winnipeg is too open, with too many things going on. I've seen families who have grown up in Winnipeg, and their kids turned out okay. But a lot left to raise kids there and at some point they all return, some with the most horrible stories and habits.

I'm not saying that we should shelter our kids from everything, and our community is not perfect. But here we have a closeness and we always watch out for each others' children.

Necessary Work

Necessary Work

Bookkeeping is always going to be necessary. It's part of society and part of the economic life of today. When you're talking about bookkeeping, you're talking about money and society can't exist without it.

In some respects I would like to think we could for a while, but we're always going to need some form of keeping track.

Job Market Info

Job Market Info

The links below take you to federal and regional government information on employment, education, salary ranges and long range prospects for this career.

The official name for Alice's occupation is "Bookkeeper" and its *NOC code is 1231.

Manitoba Job Futures

Manitoba Labour Market Information

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada

*Each occupation has an official name and unique number called the 'National Occupational Classification' code or 'NOC'.

Education

Education

Useful High School Subjects*

- Business
- Math
- Computer-related courses
- English

*Source: Job Futures.ca

 

Below are links to various programs and courses that will put you on the path to a career in book-keeping and related occupations in business administration.

University of Manitoba
Asper School of Business
Asper Undergraduate Programs
See: Aboriginal Business Education Program
Continuing Education: Aboriginal Focus Programs

University of Winnipeg
Applied Computer Science and Administrative
Studies
See also:
Administrative Studies Course List

Red River College
Full Time Day Programs
Then click on:
- Business Administration
- Computer Accounting Technician
Distance Education Programs
Then click on any of the following:
- Aboriginal Self-Government Admin
- Accounting-E
- Business Administration
- Computer Accounting Technician

Brandon University
Business Administration

Assiniboine Community College - Parkland
Business Administration

Assiniboine Community College - Brandon
All Programs
Then click on any of the following:
- Aboriginal Community Development - Economic Stream
- Accounting & Finance Advanced Diploma
- Business Administration

University College of the North - The Pas/Thompson
All Programs
Business Administration - General by Distance Education - Page 23 of the PDF
Computerized Business Applications - Page 29 of the PDF

Related Careers

Related Careers

Some related careers from Human Resources Development Canada web sites:

Accounting and Related Clerks

Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Clerks

Financial Auditors and Accountants

Payroll Clerks

Professional Associations

Professional Associations

The Aboriginal Financial Officers Association of Canada is committed to excellence in financial management for aboriginal organizations. It is a national, professional association serving the needs of individuals who are working in, or aspiring to, positions with First Nations organizations.

It is responsible for training, certification, and professional development in financial management.
See also: Advancing Aboriginal Financial Management

The Canadian Institute of Bookkeeping is committed to implementing professional standards in the bookkeeping profession. Bookkeepers have the opportunity to complete a professional development program and become members of a recognized profession.

As trained professionals, Certified Bookkeepers can look forward to greater financial and job security in a rapidly changing business world.

Community Partners

Community Partners

This project was funded by Manitoba Education's Technical Vocational Initiative. Educational and community partners for this project are Frontier School Division and Wanipigow - Hollow Water First Nation. For more information, see below.

The Hollow Water First Nation is part of the Southeast Tribal Council Community. Wanipigow School is located on the Hollow Water Reserve and is part of the Frontier School Division.

The mission of the Frontier School Division is to provide, in partnership with parents and community, high quality education for all students so that they can develop the skills, knowledge, attitudes, and character essential for successful participation in our changing society.

The Technical Vocational Initiative works with education partners, business, industry and labour to develop and recommend strategies that address the six "Action Pillars" that form the core of its mandate. They invite you to visit their website to find out more about TVI's Vision, Pillars of Action and Expected Outcomes.