Yukon using best business practices

Page 1

In mid-May, Edmonton hosted the third Meet the North Conference and Exposition, which carried the theme Best Practices for Business Success in the North.

It was hailed by many as the most important gathering of northern business people, economic development officers and community leaders in Canada this year.

The purpose of the conference was to focus on finding effective ways to handle the business and political challenges of doing business in the North. The Northern Investment Symposium that ran in conjunction with the conference included northern investors looking for investment capital and investors and venture companies from the south interested in exploring northern opportunities.

Grand Chief of the Council of Yukon First Nations (CYFN) Ed Schultz attended with a delegation from the 11 nations he represents, along with regional corporation representatives from 17 First Nations, "three of which are from northern British Columbia, which are part of our regional corporation," said Schultz. Yukon premier Dennis Fentie also was part of the Yukon delegation. So was Chief Rick O'Brien from Kwanlin Dun (not a member of CYFN), and Northern Native Broadcasting from Whitehorse.

They networked around topics such as best practices in regional economic development, regional transportation, northern workforce practices, and ! building Aboriginal relations. All aspects of financing were also covered during formal and informal meetings between May 12 and 14.

"We've been actively negotiating for self-government and land claim settlements in the Yukon for over 30 years, and that's nearing its conclusion," said Ed Schultz, who is 40 and in the first year of a three-year term. "And now we want to start promoting economic development and other activities, so that we can start generating our own source of revenue for these new, fledgling self-governing systems."

Schultz said eight Yukon first nations have settled their claims to date.

"There's 14 in the territory proper, and we expect three more to be concluded within the next year, and the remaining three to be done within the next couple years."

Schultz said that the long process was necessary "because of the comprehensiveness of the agreements," but the concluded agreements "bring our First Nations into a level of authority equivalent to the federal Crown over a lot of subject matter-programs and services, land and resource management over 16,000 square miles, as well as co-management systems with the territorial government."

Some of CYFN's main business ventures now are Rab Energy Company (R2000 window-type systems), a satellite company in Alaska and a home company in Whitehorse. One of their First Nations has major shareholdings and partnership with the new Yukon airline (Air North) with 737 service between Whitehorse, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton. They also have New West Technologies (internet technology), and tourism operations that include guiding, fishing camps and cultural experiences.

In addition to CYFN's big business partners, Schultz said, "Of course, we continue to promote and lend support to our First Nation entrepreneurs."

The grand chief discussed his people's challenges with Raven's Eye.

"One of the biggest challenges facing us right now is building the capacity necessary to have a reasonable chance of being successful in business ventures. Historically, like most Indigenous peoples, particularly in the North, our people got really conditioned to the social system of Indian Affairs, and so now with this new system of governance where we're striving for self-sufficiency, it is taking a major exercise in re-orientating our own citizens to the objective of becoming self-sufficient and becoming less dependent on social programs or public programs and trying to strive for success on their own merits."

Schultz added, though, that the new approach was "certainly striking a chord" with their youth.

Another challenge they face, he said, was in getting busness, industry and governments to acknowledge the skills and talent that is starting to emerge in their territories "and to recognize that we're very business-savvy, intelligent, and very due-diligent in our approach to enterprises, and that we're not going to be made fools of. And that we're prepared to do some very serious business, but ... we're not prepared to entertain business partnerships that only speak to training and employment opportunities any longer.

"We want to talk about some meaningful equity positions. We want to talk about some business ventures that have a reasonable chance, with some good work behind it ... that would turn a profit, in addition to those jobs and training."

Schultz said First Nations have separated business from government in the Yukon. "I'm here as the grand chief and I represent government. Our regional corporate leaders here represent the business side."

In the North, he said, "Our business people are having their systems set up so they can be at arm's length from us, make independent decisions and move forward, without getting tied up so much into the governance process.

"Our governance system is designed and based on consensus-building. And of course, consensus-building takes a lot of time. And in the business community, which is very competitive, sometimes time isn't available to reach that consensus. So what we have done is we set up all of our corporations under the general articles of law within the Yukon and Canada, because those very same corporations may be trying to access some of the resources or do activity on our own lands, which we will be regulating as governing entities."

At home, Schultz has a keen interest in the future of Native languages and their link to maintaining First Nation culture. Schultz said although he doesn't speak his language, Aboriginal languages are "a strategic focus of my particular role right now." The Yukon has eight Aboriginal languages, but Schultz said the public education systemis mostly English and French.

"Under self-government," Schultz said, "we can devolve education or change it."

He added education is a priority of the CYFN this year, and "Maybe we'll know by fall which way to go on education."

Raised in non-Native foster homes, Schultz was a teenaged school dropout who drifted to the city and got into alcohol and a self-destructive lifestyle.

But he saw the the only way to help himself and his people was to turn his life around. He got a trade as a welder. "It took five or six years to kick my nasty habits-except smoking," he said.

He started doing land survey work and learning what First Nations were attempting to do to improve their lot. So he got involved in community development, and "spent 16 years working with lawyers." Schultz studied business management and worked on land claims, natural resources and in administration with Yukon First Nations and Aboriginal groups for 10 years before he entered politics in 1992.

Schultz believes future generations in the Yukon can have the best of both worlds. With such a large youth population, he said, the challenge is to maintain their cultural identity and distinctiveness. On the positive side, he said, Yukon youth want professional careers and do not want to settle for dependence on transfer payments.