Sakimay First Nation breaks ground west of Regina after years of Indian Act red tape

The Sakimay First Nation, City of Regina, and Four Horse Development came together for the groundbreaking of a 260-acre business park just west of Regina Thursday morning near the intersection of Dewdney Avenue and Pinkie Road.

Construction on the first 40 acres of the development, Saulteaux Crossing, will begin on Aug. 1. The first part will be a new, Esso-branded Saulteaux Crossing gas station, convenience store, Tim Hortons and another unnamed food vendor. Future development plans include a motel, office buildings and a convention centre.

The first phase is expected to be finished in November or December.

Chief Lynn Acoose called it a “proud day” for the Sakimay First Nation. She said this is more than the start of a promising business venture; it is also the culmination of three years of negotiating with Indigenous and Northern Affairs (INAC) and the Ministry of Justice.

“If we could move at the pace of business, I think that more First Nations like Sakimay would succeed,” she said.

“It puts us at a disadvantage when we have to jump through all these hoops in the Indian Act, such as the designation process.”

Since Saulteaux Crossing is being built on reserve land, Four Horse Developments, which is owned by Sakimay, have to go through additional red tape.

Four Horse CEO, Pat Fiacco, said he knows INAC employees are just following legislation, but the Indian Act should be modernized to help speed economic development.

“I don’t believe the Indian Act was ever meant to influence economic development, and that needs to change,” Fiacco said.

“It delays the process and just doesn’t make sense. So that’s going to take some time to do it.”

Fiacco has worked on multiple sides of this project. Negotiations to provide city services to Sakimay land outside of Regina, which the First Nation would pay for, began when Fiacco was still mayor.

Now, Saulteaux Crossing will be the first First Nation’s development outside of Regina’s boundaries to have city services like fire protection and water.

With this agreement framework in place, future development at the site will have one less hoop to go through.

“As more intense development happens on this sight, we will enter into another phase where there’s a more substantive need for fire protection, water, and other hook-ups the city has,” Mayor Michael Fougere said.