Boom in Alberta - Are Natives cashing in?

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How are the Aboriginal people cashing in on Alberta's booming economy?

In Calgary, work has risen to a fever pitch. The Aboriginal people from surrounding areas are in the midst of a work boom that will see them gaining employment.

"A lot of the Aboriginal people who are getting employment here are Aboriginal people from around here and from the north and the eastern provinces," said Waylon Yellowhorn, public access terminal job search co-ordinator, Calgary Native Friendship Society. "I'm the facilitator here for the job search group. I get an average of eight to 10 [people] a day in here; people utilizing our services, putting a resume together, using the fax machines, phones, etc. A lot of these people are getting the employment they are looking for. They are not coming back to the centre which means that they probably got a job," he said.

In Fort McMurray both the Syncrude and Suncor plants are undergoing expansion projects and with the start up of the new Shell oil sands plant, the town is booming. The city is finding that people from nearly all provinces are moving there to look for full-time employment.

"There are a lot of Aboriginal people looking for work here in Fort McMurray. But they do not know about the resources, who they can go to. We've had quite a few people call us. So we decided to try to get some sort of employment program going here at the Friendship Centre," said Trudy Tremblay, manager of the Nistawyou Friendship Centre. "We are presently looking for funding to start one up," she said.