Businessman, entrepreneur recognized with lifetime achievement award

A member of the Beaver Lake Cree Nation is this year’s recipient of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Mel Benson has been recognized for having made a significant contribution to the economic growth and development of Aboriginal people.

“I received an email to call the organization... I called them and I was sitting in my home office chair and I almost fell off the chair,” said Benson of the moment he found out about his award. “I was deeply humbled, because of the people who’d gone before me. I also had a feeling of pride that my peers were recognizing me.”

 Born near Lac La Biche, Benson grew up in the small town. It was a poor community, and poverty and racism made life difficult for the high number of Aboriginal people living there, he says. Benson faced the same barriers to his success that many Aboriginal people face—poverty, lack of access to education, and lack of funding for that education—but eventually found his way into what he called a “fascinating” career in the energy sector.

“I’ve worked in west Africa, Russia, and Australia. I had a wonderful career in oil and gas and in that career I had a chance to work with minority groups,” said Benson, who is president of his own company, Mel E. Benson Management Services Inc.. “When I was in Canada, I had the opportunity to work with First Nations and Métis.”

Benson started out as a “communications guy” before moving into human resources, operations management, and finally project management. He once worked for Exxon International, but retired. He is the chair for Suncor Energy’s compensation and environment, health and safety committee. And recently he accepted a position with the University of Alberta’s Land Institute. In all of the work he has done, Benson says he has made an exceptional effort to include the voices of Indigenous people.

“Because it’s an oil industry, you’re also impacting the local populations, and I think it’s absolutely essential you listen, and you listen well,” he said. “Particularly with Canada’s Aboriginal people. It’s critical they understand the impacts and the potential and they participate in the main stream economy, because as Aboriginal people, if we don’t participate… we’ll continue to be looked down on as second-class citizens.”

After a lifetime of hard work and many successes, Benson says he is “slowly” trying to retire. He has five children, including a set of twins not yet four years old, and a life partner he thanks for supporting him through everything. Because he feels he’s been so blessed, he also feels the need to “give back” as much as possible, and has been involved in a number of charities. And though Benson doesn’t feel his success is unique for an Aboriginal person in Canada, he acknowledges the path isn’t always easy.

“More and more we’re seeing Aboriginal people doing things and participating in higher levels... So while it’s a tough, slow process, if we’re given an opportunity to get to the starting line, we can effectively compete,” said Benson.

“Am I unique? I guess every individual is unique because there’s only one of us, but I feel more humbled than anything in getting this recognition,” he said

Photo caption: Mel Benson of the Beaver Lake Cree Nation is this year’s recipient of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business’s Lifetime Achievement Award.