Over the past two and a half decades, Whitecap Dakota First Nation, south of Saskatoon, has enjoyed immense economic growth and huge financial success.
A lot of that has to do with the hard work, determination and perseverance of the community’s leader, Chief Darcy Bear.
Bear was first elected 25 years ago. Since then, the community’s unemployment rate has plunged from 70 per cent to five per cent.
A new elementary school has been built, roads paved, and an early learning centre established.
Bear is not reflecting on the past successes though; he’s looking to the future.
A brand new 155-room hotel is set to open this summer; a new spa will open in 2021. It means dozens of new jobs for the community.
But perhaps more importantly, it also builds on the community’s reputation for being one of the country’s most successful places to do business, one Bear has helped craft.
Learn more about Bear and how he is Shaping Saskatchewan in the above video.