Initiative lets band members own their own home

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Members of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band (LLRIB) now have an opportunity to own their own homes, thanks to a unique housing program designed to tackle the problem of housing shortages on reserve.

Members of the LLRIB are spread out among six communities-La Ronge, Hall Lake, Sucker River, Grandmother's Bay, Stanley Mission and Little Red River reserve-with a total on-reserve population of around 7,700. Unfortunately, said LLRIB Chief Harry Cook, there are currently only about 1,100 homes within those communities.

"So when you divide 7,700 people into 1,100 homes, we're drastically short to house people," he said.

Band council sat down in the fall of 2003 to talk about possible solutions, and out of those discussions came the idea that band members might want to assume ownership of their homes, either the one they currently live in or a new home.

Under the plan, Cook said, the band will issue home ownership certificates to the new homeowners, and fully serviced lots will be made available for those who qualify for the program wanting to build in the communities.

"The land will always remain in trust with the Lac La Ronge Indian Band ownership, but yet we will develop a lease arrangement with the new potential home owners," he said.

"It's something that every person aspires to have, is a home in their lifetime, and look after it and their families as well."

Members interested in purchasing a home through the program will have to apply and meet certain criteria, such as having good employment and being able to make their mortgage payments without putting a strain on their budgets. Mortgages will be arranged through the Bank of Montreal.

People buying a home will have more responsibility for maintenance of their homes, but with that comes a sense of ownership, Cook said.

"I think that's very, very key. You see, when we have people that are allocated a home, which is understood to be a band or a government home, a lot of people don't really associate it as truly theirs, even though they live there," he said.

"When people own something and pay for something, all of a sudden the perspective is different. Like all of a sudden they're making their own payments and they seem to look after things a lot better ... If a person owned their vehicle, as an example. If a window breaks, a tire breaks, well, they don't come to the band or anybody else to replace it, because it's theirs. They go ahead and make appropriate arrangements. So hopefully this kind of perspective will be the same when they own a home."

Homeowners who chose to move off reserve in the future will have the same options available to them as any other homeowner, Cook said-they will be free to find someone else to assume their mortgage and buy their home.

While this type of initiative has been tried by bands in Ontario and Quebec that are located near large metropolitan centres, the LLRIB is taking the lead in bringing on-reserve home ownership to Western Canada, Cook said.

"We're trying to set a trend here. Lac La Ronge Indian Band is very blessed with a lot of things. First of all we have a big population. We're very aggressive in economic development. We've created a lot of jobs ... because we provide good employment to a lot of people, a lot of people can assume to look after their needs."

Many of those jobs have been created through Kitsaki Management Limited Partnership, the business arm of the LLRIB. Through Kitsaki, the band is involved in a number of businesses, including Northern Lights Foods, La Ronge Wild Rice, First Nations Insurance Services, the La Ronge Motor Hotel, Wapawekka Lumber, Dakota Dunes Golf Links, Northern Resource Trucking, Athabasca Catering and Canada North Environmental Services.

Having that kind of strong economic base makes the band especially suited for this type of housing initiative.

"I think it's really attractive because when people are completely dependent on government transfers nly, it does not give enough ability for flexibility for people to do more. You're always limited to what it is that you have. Whereas, if we offer employment and other opportunities, people have a career. We build our companies to be competitive and as long as everybody participates in a good way, we're part of the economy and people can make a better living and be proud that they're a wage earner," he said.

While providing on-reserve housing is technically a responsibility of the federal government, Cook isn't concerned that programs such as this might be eroding treaty rights. What he is concerned about is working to meet the housing needs of band members.

"I think treaty rights are still ongoing discussions politically at all levels, all the time. Because that takes a bit of time for the process to make sure that government can completely meet its obligations to house, to educate and everything else. Our band cannot wait much longer. We're trying to do things on our own to make a difference today than wait another 100 years to have our needs met."