Minister visits Alberta with fist full of dollars

Page 1

Andy Scott picked the coldest day of the winter so far to pay his first visit to Alberta as minister of Indian and Northern Affairs.

Though the temperature in Calgary was the equivalent of minus 40 Celsius with the windchill, Scott got a fairly warm reception from Alberta chiefs during a press conference on Jan. 12 because he was there to announce more than $7 million in economic development funding.

The Paul, Chipewyan Prairie, Heart Lake, Samson Cree, Whitefish Lake and Alexis Nakota Sioux First Nations each received federal money for projects ranging from oil and gas initiatives to a dry cleaning and laundry plant.

After reading a prepared statement, the minister "re-committed" to work with First Nation leaders on closing the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians, telling the audience that Prime Minister Paul Martin saw Aboriginal issues as a high priority.

Repeating the government's main message on the Indian Affairs front these days, Scott emphasized "collaboration" or working in partnership with Aboriginal leaders.

"I don't believe that we can do this for anybody," he said of the need to address Canada's "unfinished business" with First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples.

National Chief Phil Fontaine has complained that federal officials are warning that other priorities will force Aboriginal issues to the sidelines once again in the federal budget expected this spring. Scott would not comment on the discussions about cabinet's prioritizing, citing cabinet confidentiality, but he did say that Aboriginal issues "are on a very short list."

Samson Cree Chief Victor Buffalo was present for the announcement.

"I think this is a wonderful opportunity for First Nations to finally become players in the oil and gas sector," he said of the $1.7 million dollar funding that will allow Samson Cree to acquire a 50 per cent interest in two oil and gas drilling rigs. "It's really good and it's about time."

He described Samson's entry into the industry as historic.

"Since 1954, [Samson] has never taken part in the oil and gas industry. In the meantime, the oil and gas companies have made a lot of money and none has ever happened in Hobbema. That's wrong. That's criminal," he said.

Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation will receive $490,000 for its oil and gas well servicing company Northern Nakota Well Servicing Ltd. The company will acquire a new service rig to expand service to a number of existing wells. The plan is to acquire five additional rigs over four years with profits from this first rig.

Paul First Nation received a commitment of $140,000 to develop an agreement with TransAlta Utilities for a greater role in the expansion and operation of power generation facilities.

Whitefish Lake (Goodfish) received a commitment of $1 million to expand the dry cleaning and laundry division of the Goodfish Lake Development Corporation with construction of a state-of-the-art plant.

Chipewyan Prairie and Heart Lake First Nations will participate in the forestry industry with $300,000 in assistance. Janvier/Heart Lake Forestry Inc. will enter into a five-year agreement to harvest 180,000 cubic metres of logs annually for Alberta-Pacific and other forest product companies.