Tuesday marked an important milestone as nine Saskatchewan Métis nations came together to sign off on a new pilot project for the next five years.
With the flick of a pen at the Saskatoon Inn, the nearly dozen communities signed on to participate in the Métis Community Capacity Strategy (MCCS).
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It’s a strategy aimed at breathing new life into aboriginal communities and help each region or organization identify business opportunities and how to close deals when they come around.
“A lot of those communities are at a point where they’re just about there but they need the expertise of a northern research group,” Ronald Duplessis, with Clarence Campeau Development Fund (CCDF) and director of MCCS, said.
“The consultants that we’re using here – to be able to do the feasibility studies, undertake the strategies, to develop networking opportunities, negotiation skills and to attend meetings with industry, business and government – it’s going to have a big impact.”
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The nine communities involved include:
- Beauval;
- Buffalo Narrows Economic Corporation;
- Central Urban Metis Federation Inc. (Saskatoon);
- Green Lake;
- Infinity Metis Development Corporation (Archerwill);
- Kineepik Metis Local (Pinehouse);
- La Loche;
- Prince Albert Metis Women Association; and
- Sakitawak Development Corporation (Île-à-la-Crosse).
Laurier Donais, the assistant deputy minster with the Ministry of Government Relations, agreed.
“I think certainly you want to build on some momentum that is currently in some communities,” Donais said.
“Economic development can open opportunities for wealth creation, employment in those communities and those are good news stories for sure.”
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The initiative is that of the CCDF.
In nearly two decades, its investments have generated more than $880 million in social and economic benefits in Saskatchewan.
“The more businesses we create, the more revenue is generated, the more spin-off benefits, the more jobs, more wealth in those communities,” Duplessis said.
“Every business has a big impact on those smaller communities.”
CCDF officials said they wanted to go above and beyond tourist attractions and said they have the money to back these regions.
“CCDF has large capital available – 300,000 dollars in grants for every project over 600,000 dollars plus up to a million dollars in funding financing at attractive interest rates,” Duplessis said.
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Funding that can sometimes be difficult to distribute it because of a lack of capacity required in these regions to ensure they can capitalize on business.
“They’re lacking skills, they’re lacking equity, they’re lacking planning, they’re lacking a number of different things and that’s what this strategy is all about.”
It’s about keeping small communities in Saskatchewan alive, not only that but a great place to live, work and play.
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